How Ukraine's medevac programme helped save a boy severely burned in a missile strike

A Ukrainian boy severely injured by a Russian onslaught 3 years agone has managed to resume his puerility passions acknowledgment to a homegrown programme dedicated to aesculapian evacuations. 

Roman was 7 years aged erstwhile nan session successful which he was sitting pinch his mother was deed during a rocket onslaught successful Vinnytsia, Ukraine, successful July 2022. 

He managed to crawl retired from nether nan debris, but nan onslaught killed 26 people, including Roman’s mother. 

He had soul injuries, burns covered 45 per cent of his body, and he spent 2 weeks successful a coma owed to nan severity of his injuries.

"When I woke up, I called retired and a caregiver came, but she said only successful German and I couldn’t understand," he said successful a connection published by nan World Health Organization (WHO).

"At first, I didn’t cognize wherever I was – I thought I was still successful Ukraine. Then I saw that I was each wrapped successful bandages, and I remembered nan full arena and understood that I was abroad. I was truthful gladsome erstwhile my begetter arrived," he added.

A aesculapian removal programme to supply specialised care

Roman was evacuated to person specialised attraction that wasn’t disposable successful Ukraine, having been transferred to nan University Hospital of Dresden successful Germany done Ukraine’s then-new specialised medevac programme.

"The Ministry of Health of Ukraine [which coordinated nan programme] has established criteria which patients are assessed against for eligibility and besides suitability to beryllium considered for aesculapian evacuation," a spokesperson of nan WHO told Euronews Health by email.

"These criteria are chiefly focused connected specialised trauma care, crab and rehabilitation supports that whitethorn not presently beryllium accessible aliases disposable successful Ukraine astatine nan time," they added.  

Such a transportation presents respective challenges for some nan patients and nan aesculapian team.  

"Roman was successful a precarious condition. He was truthful severely burned that he had to beryllium sedated and ventilated to complete nan travel from Vinnytsia to Lviv, past crossed nan separator to Rzeszów successful Poland," said Jonathan Vinke, an precocious paramedic who was portion of nan aesculapian squad who evacuated him.

The WHO explained that critically unwell children are a very "difficult group of patients to beryllium medically evacuated arsenic they require master transportation teams who are not only skilled and knowledgeable successful caring for paediatric patients successful nan first instance". 

The removal teams "must besides person a bully knowing of transportation medicine arsenic paediatric patients are susceptible to abrupt deterioration".

5,000 Ukrainian patients helped

Coordinated by nan Ministry of Health of Ukraine pinch nan support of nan WHO, nan EU and various states, nan medevac programme has helped complete 5,000 patients since its motorboat successful EU partner countries and various WHO Member States.

"Each week, a mini number of Ukrainian patients proceed to beryllium accepted by participating countries successful nan Medevac Programme, pinch Germany, Poland, Lithuania, nan Netherlands and Spain being nan astir active," nan WHO said.

The programme is expected to proceed passim 2025 and into 2026 and besides allows for accelerated clearing retired of infirmary beds successful lawsuit of a important wide casualty arena aliases attack, necessitating to disperse patients quickly, nan WHO added. 

Today, Roman has returned to Ukraine, wherever he lives pinch his father.

After extended beingness rehabilitation, Roman was capable to resume his hobbies: ballroom dancing and accordion, contempt nan first mediocre test fixed owed to nan severity of his injuries.

"Never springiness up. You ne'er cognize what’s waiting for you. Sometimes you whitethorn deliberation that nan roadworthy is truthful long," he said. 

"You whitethorn get location sooner than you think, aliases you whitethorn request much time, truthful you person to support doing what you are doing and not springiness up".